Something About Life
by Hope is an inspiration
Summary: A dinner party between Castle, Beckett, Alexis, and Pi reveals a shocking surprise, one that will change all of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Something about this dinner irked Castle. As he pulled the last dish out of the oven, he took a deep breath. Alexis and Pi would be there in about five minutes, and he definetely wasn't ready to see his daughters boyfriend again. "I mean, they haven't been over since christmas. Its been three months. I'd just rather see my daughter than my daugher and her boyfriend!"

"I know, Castle, but she's probably just been busy. Look on the bright side, at least she's coming to see you." He felt his fiance's arms supportively wrap around him and smiled lightly, still upset that the first time he would see his daughter in months would be with her annoying boyfriend by her side.

"Yeah, at least there's that." He sighed and turned so that he was facing the woman he was set to marry in two months. He laid a light kiss on her lips, "Hey, thanks for agreeing to be here."

"You don't have to thank me Castle. Like I said before, we're practically family." Kate smiled at him, a bit nervous about the dinner as well. But more so nervous about seeing Alexis. Things were still a bit hard, she was still trying to navigate her way through the Castle family.

Hearing her say that made Castle smile a bit more. He really loved this woman.

A knock at the door shook them out of their romantic moment, and they knew that it was their guests for the evening.

Both Castle and Beckett exchanged a look that essentially said, 'good luck' before Castle opened the door with a grin, exclaiming, "Alexis!"

"Dad!" She went up and hugged him, before handing him the dish that she had prepared.

"Hey Mr.C! How's it cracking?" Pi said, his voice energetic and not the least bit nervous. He gave Castle a hug, which was awkward to say the least, because Castle did not return the hug. Instead he stood there, stiff as a board, wondering when this dinner would be over.

"Hi, Pi." Castle said, moving the dish Alexis had brought to the counter and politely taking their coats. He needed to find something to talk about, and fast. Something to fill the awkward silence. So he glanced over at his red haired daughter, the one who looked nearly the same after three months. But even though she looked the same, there was something slightly off that he just couldn't place. "So, Alexis, how's school?"

The red haired Alexis smiled, her nervousness at this dinner and the news she had to tell him fading just slightly. "It's fine. I have A's in all my classes."

Castle smiled, the father in him coming out as he exclaimed, "That's my girl! What about work?"

"Works fine…" Her voice trailed off with a sort of shaky breath. They were seated around the table now, and she knew that things were so tense that she couldn't hold off much longer, or she was honestly going to burst out with it, and that probably wasn't the best thing to do. She swallowed, then held her head up high, "Actually dad, there's a reason I asked to come over for dinner."

Beckett hadn't spoken, with the exception of saying hello. Things were too awkward for her to find any attempt at speaking. However, now, she could see the nervousness on Alexis's face and the fear in Castle's mind. She placed her hand on his back. "What's going on Alexis?" Her tone was slow, concerned. Because something about the girl's behavior was reading that she needed someone to worry about her right now.

Castle's mind spun. His little girl looked afraid. What was going on? _Was someone trying to kill her again? Was she in danger?_ He had almost never seen her that afraid before, and he didn't want to ask, he didn't want to know.

Meanwhile, Pi sat there, a smile on his face. He was too excited to hold it any longer, and he couldn't really see any reason to. "We're having a baby Mr. C!"

**_AN:_****_ I don't even know what I wrote, lol. But this is going to be a multichapter fic, kind of focusing on trying to make the best of a sticky situation. And yes, there will plenty of Caskettyness :3 Please read and review. _**

**_Here's where you can find me:_**

**My tumblr (I follow back if you send me an ask): notalonedarling**

**My instagram and twitter (I follow back on both): ashesunbroken**

**My wattpad is ElizabethAshes (I follow back here as well)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Castle sat there, stunned. It took his mind one second to process the words, another to let out a whisper of, "What?" and another to decide it was all a joke. _It has to be a joke right?_ He'd tried several times before to trick his mind into believing that Alexis had never had sex, or even thought of sex. It didn't matter to him that she lived with her boyfriend, in his mind that didn't matter. She couldn't be having sex. And he'd convinced himself of that. Because it's quite easy to trick your mind into something if you tell yourself it enough times.

_So it had to be a joke, right?_ "Is this some kind of early April fools joke or something?" Castle asked, looking directly at Alexis with a panicked expression on his face. The room held a thick tension, one that only one person in the room would dare break.

"Of course it's not a-!" Pi began, but Alexis quickly cut in.

"It's not a joke, dad. I'm two months along." Alexis finished her sentence quickly, courage pouring into her. She was terrified, but it was already out in the open, and she had to face it. One of her hands moved to the spot where she knew her baby bump would be, instinctively, as if she could protect her child from the world and the possible wrath of her father.

The confirmation from his daughter, along with the hand on her stomach sent Castle's mind spinning. Spinning so much that it seemed to freeze, as if it was fighting the information it knew to be true. And just as his mind seemed to nearly freeze, so did his body. He was silent, still. His eyes unmoving from where they were staring at Alexis's hand, his lips froze half open, his chest neither rising nor falling. It seemed as if in that moment he lost the ability to function.

Beckett didn't know what she could do. She, herself was shocked. But it wasn't In her position to say much to Alexis, or to judge her position. All she could do was help her fiancé, who definitely looked in that moment as if he could use the help. She placed her hand gently on his arm, just a slight bit of pressure to hopefully return him to the world, "Castle, breathe."

He sucked in a deep breath of air at her command, feeling a little more grounded. But still, he didn't know how to cope, how to deal with this. So he said what was on his mind, the only thing he could really think, "How did this happen?"

Alexis looked at her father, feeling sympathy grow stronger than her fears. This was her father, and he had raised her to be kind, responsible. And now he probably felt as if he did something wrong. "I'm sorry dad. We were careful, I mean we-"

Castle silenced her with his hand, and in a calm voice that said he was trying to deal with this news, "I don't want to hear." Because he didn't. He was dealing as best as he could and he didn't need to hear further details about his daughters sex life.

"What are you planning to do?" Castle asked after another moment. He wanted to hear her plans, her ideas, what she wanted to do, because it was her life. And he couldn't stop her from making the choice to have an abortion, give it up for adoption, or to keep it. He just wanted to be prepared for whatever she decided.

"We want to keep it, dad." She answered a moment later.

* * *

**_Coming up next, a Caskett scene, I promise! :3 And to TORONTOSUN, I'm not to fond of Pi myself, in fact I kind of cringe everytime I have to write him or watch him. But as much as I dislike him, I find him and his place in Castle right now sort of interesting….speaking of annoying characters, anyone know what happened to the cop that was taking Beckett's place at the beginning of the season? Anyway, 8, nearly 7 days till Castle is back, and I am PUMPED. Finishing the season 4 dvds I got for Christmas and even though I know they don't get together till always I find myself yelling at the tv for her to just tell him she likes him already….anyway…that's not going to happen. But tell me what you thought about this chapter and my annoying rambling. By the way, if you all bug me here or on tumblr (notalonedarling)-you can bug me on anon, I'm much more likely to get a new chapter up faster. I don't go back to uni until January 27th, and I already have all my textbooks ordered, SO BUG ME! I'm too lazy to convince myself._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The dinner party finished earlier than anyone had expected. Because after that initial shock, it was extremely difficult for anyone to know what to say. And they had all lost basically any appetite they may have had. And so Pi and Alexis eventually came up with an excuse to leave, saying they would call after the next ultrasound. The dishes were left on the table as Castle escaped to the bedroom, and a worried Kate followed after.

"Castle?" She asked, as she watched him sit on the bed, elbows on his knees, as if the energy had been drained from him. His face even looked older, as if he had aged a decade in just a few hours. She leaned against the wall, concerned.

"I just can't believe this is happening." His voice sounded drained, saddened, as if he was grieving over the loss of something. She couldn't determine what he was thinking, however she wanted him to share his thoughts with her, to let her in a bit.

"Castle, it's going to be okay. We're going to work this out." Kate uncrossed her arms and walked over to him, placing an arm around his shoulders. And as she said the words, she realized she meant every word. They were all in this together and they were all going to figure it out.

"What is there to work out, Kate?" He said, turning to her, his face reading despair, worry, and longing. Longing for there to actually be a thing to do about this. He wanted grandchildren, but his head kept spinning…_it's too soon. She's too young. This means in one way or another Pi is permanently in our lives now._ He never expected this to happen, "I just didn't expect our kids to have nieces or nephews that were younger than them."

Kate and Rick had talked babies several times since they had taken care of Cosmo, and had definitely decided that children were in their future. They hadn't decided how many, they just knew that they wanted to be fully settled into their marriage before they tried baby making. That didn't mean that they didn't like to practice, however. But despite all the talks about babies, Castle had never talked about the fact that in not too many years to come, he himself could be a grandfather. "Have you ever watched 19 kids and counting, Castle? That kind of thing happens."

Her attempt to lighten the mood failed. Of course, it was a subtle, very poor attempt, but still, she had tried. She ran a hand through her hair, thinking about what she could say or do to make this better, to help him feel a bit better.

Fortunately, the universe spoke for her, or at least, she thought it did. A call came in, ringing shrilly and interrupting the solemn mood in the room.

One hand on his back, Kate turned into detective in the matter of seconds it took her to see that it was from the precinct and put the phone to her ear. "Beckett?"

She nodded to herself as the voice on the other line talked. Castle just watched as the detective listened, his face still solemn. "Okay, we'll be there in twenty."

She hung up the phone without another word, and looked herself up and down before deciding that the dinner party clothes were professional enough to go to work in. "Body dropped." She grabbed her coat and buttoned it up, "C'mon Castle."

"Maybe I'll just stay. I've got a chapter to finish and-" Castle was really down in the dumps, and he had a feeling that nothing would make him feel better.

"You're coming, Castle, if I have to drag you out of here myself. Sitting around here is only going to drive you crazy." She left a quick, simple kiss on his lips as she grabbed his hand and dragged him up off the bed, grabbing his coat. "C'mon, I'm sure it's a good one."

"Let's hope." Castle muttered.

Little did they know that this was not going to be a very fun case.

_**AN:**__**Short chapter, I know, I know, I know….I was going to make it long but I'm just sooooooo tired. Anyway, I'm trying to get chapters out quick. I've just been doing a lot of thinking and reading of fanfiction. If You haven't read it already then check out Five Little Monkeys. It's awesome :3 **_

_**Just so you know, what I've been thinking about is the case that they are going to work on….And the idea I have for it, If I use it it will probably require a trigger warning….I don't know yet though, I'm still thinking about things. So throw ideas at me for the case! And characters and what not! All of your feedback has been really amazing and I read it all, I promise! So throw ideas at me and if I use them you will get credit. Oh, also, if you want to find me more often or whatever, you can find me on tumblr at notalonedarling. Happy New Year, By the way!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Ever watched private practice? Well, I kind of got this idea from that. More on an authors note after this long awaited chapter. Guys, please be aware that there could be a major trigger warning if you are affected by things such as pregnancys and babies and such (and I mean in a not so good death way). I really don't want to trigger anyone, so please don't read if you could be triggered. I love you all, and if you ever need to talk, I'm here. Xx By the way, I don't know medical stuff, really :/ and I don't own Castle even though I WISH I DID J_

The apartment they walked into was nicely furbished, expensive arm chairs that even Castle eyed with jealousy, because they were nicer than those he had at his loft. It was a penthouse apartment, at the very top, and from all the elegant decors, was probably worth quite a bit.

However, it would have looked a lot nicer. That is, if there wasn't a body in the middle of the kitchen Island. There she lied, sprawled, her once hugely pregnant belly torn open. There was no baby in sight, however, and this mother's eyes were closed tight to the world. Both Katherine Beckett and Richard Castle found themselves frozen at the spot. They had never seen anything like this, and given the topic at dinner, this just felt even more of a sickening sight.

Across the room, Kevin Ryan couldn't even look at the body. It reminded him too much of his baby and his wife. Instead, he had his back to the body, and was asking the maid questions, wondering to himself how anything like this could ever happen, "Ms. Quiten, who else had keys to the apartment?"

Hearing questions shook Kate out of her shock. She had a job to do. She looked over at Lanie, who was standing next to the body. "What have we got, Lanie?" She had to choke back the fact that some part of her really didn't want to know, that she honestly wished they had never walked into the penthouse at all. She wished she had let Castle mope around at home, she wished she had moped around with him. Unfortunately, that wasn't in her job description.

Although the question wasn't addressed to him, hearing the sound of Beckett's voice caused Kevin Ryan to turn around, careful to only look at Beckett and not the body in front of him, "Margaret Voik. Wife of the head of the Varmont corporation. 25."

"She was 8 and a half months pregnant." Lanie said.

"And how did she die?" Beckett asked, afraid of the answer, even though she believed that she knew it.

"The baby was cut out of her, it seems, though quite sloppily I might add." Lanie had already looked over the body and the gaping hole in the woman's stomach. Lanie looked past Beckett and at Castle, who was still standing as still as a statue. " Castle? You okay? You look like you've never seen a dead body before."

Castle snapped out of it, finally,"Fine, just…."

"Dad thing?" Kevin asked.

"Exactly." Castle said, glad he didn't suspect it was anything else. He was not planning on telling them anytime soon that his daughter was pregnant. It just wasn't going to happen.

Ryan patted him on the back, thinking that he could relate to Castle, not knowing that Castle had an entire other reason for being freaked out.

_A/N: And that's all she wrote folks, or I wrote, tonight, anyway. You can find me here, on wattpad (ElizabethAshes), on tumblr (notalonedarling), and on Instagram and twitter (ashesunbroken). I love you all :3 Now I'm gonna go eat pizza and watch new girl then sleep._


End file.
